Method and apparatus for transferring digital content from a computer to a mobile device

ABSTRACT

A system for synchronizing digital content stored on a user&#39;s mobile device with digital content stored on the user&#39;s computer is disclosed.

PRIORITY CLAIMS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/355,546 filed on Jan. 16, 2009 and entitled “Method And Apparatus ForTransferring Digital Content From A Personal Computer To A MobileHandset,” which claims priority under 35 USC 119(e) to U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application Ser. No. 61/040,131 filed on Mar. 27, 2008 andentitled “Method And Apparatus For Transferring Digital Content From APersonal Computer To A Mobile Handset” and also claims priority under 35USC 120 and is a continuation in part to U.S. patent application Ser.No. 11/788,711 filed on Apr. 20, 2007 and entitled “Method And ApparatusFor Transferring Digital Content From A Personal Computer To A MobileHandset” which in turn claims priority under 35 USC 119(e) and 120 toU.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/879,416 filed on Jan. 8,2007, all of which are incorporated by reference herein.

FIELD

The invention relates generally to a method and apparatus fortransferring digital content stored on a user's personal computer to theuser's mobile handset.

BACKGROUND

With the increase in storage capacity of hard disk drives and theprevalence of optical CD and DVD drives, users now can store theirentire musical libraries on their personal computer (PC). For example,various software programs such as iTunes (offered by Apple Computer)allow a user to load musical content from CDs, store it on thecomputer's hard disk drive, organize the different content, and thenplay the music on the PC or burn all or part of the musical collectiononto a CD or DVD. Users also can transfer the musical files to otherdevices, such as an iPod (offered by Apple Computer) or an MP3 player.These transfers typically require a direct, hardwired connection betweenthe PC and the device, such as through a USB cable.

In recent years, mobile handsets (such as cellular phones and PDAs) haveevolved beyond mere telephone and data collection devices. For example,many cellular phones now have sophisticated display screens and audiocapabilities. Various companies (including mSpot, Inc., the assignee ofthis application), offer audio and video content that is “streamed” tothe cellular phone using a wireless cellular network. This allowscellular phone users to listen to music or other audio content and watchmovies or other video content on their cellular phones. However, theuser's choices are limited to the content offered by the provider.

What is needed in the art is a system that allows a user of a mobilehandset to obtain digital content that he or she previously had storedon a personal computer or other device by downloading the content over awireless network and to store it on the mobile handset.

What is further needed is the ability to synchronize the digital contentas well as the file structure, user ratings, and other metadata betweenthe mobile handset and PC.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the prior art system involving a PC and anaudio device such as an iPod or MP3 player and/or a portable storagedevice;

FIG. 2 illustrates a system that allows a mobile handset to downloadmusic from a PC using a wireless network and the Internet;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a method for downloading music from a PCto a mobile handset;

FIG. 4 shows an example of a user interface on the mobile handset fordownloading music from a PC to the mobile handset;

FIG. 5 illustrates another embodiment of the system that allows a mobilehandset to share content with a computing device;

FIG. 6 illustrates another embodiment of the system that allows a mobilehandset to share content among a plurality of computing devices;

FIG. 7A illustrates a piece of content segmented into smaller pieces;

FIG. 7B illustrates a method for downloading content to a mobile devicethat does not support progressive downloading; and

FIG. 8 illustrates a network aware mobile handset application of thecontent sharing system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ONE OR MORE EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 depicts the prior art system in which a user stores digitalcontent (such as music, video, etc.) on computer 10. Computer 10 can bea desktop, notebook, server, or any other type of device that can storedigital data. User connects portable entertainment device 12 to computer10 using interface 14. Portable entertainment device 12 can be an iPod,MP3 player, or any other device that can store and play digital content.Interface 14 is a direct connection between computer 10 and portableentertainment device 12 and typically is a USB cable or Firewire cable.

In the alternative, a user can connect portable storage device 16 tocomputer 10 to download the digital data, and then disconnect portablestorage device 16 from computer 10 and then connect portable storagedevice 16 to portable entertainment device 12 to download the data ontoportable entertainment device 12. Portable storage device 16 can be aFlash ROM chip, a hard disk drive, or other storage device.

FIG. 2 depicts a system that allows a mobile handset to download digitalcontent from a computer using a wireless network. As in the prior art, auser stores digital content (such as music, video, etc.) on computer 10.However, in this embodiment, the user downloads the digital data fromcomputer 10 to mobile handset 20 in a wireless fashion over a wirelesscommunication path. Mobile handset 20 may be a PDA, mobile phone,wireless email device (such as the Blackberry), or other handheld devicethat has wireless connectivity to be able to communicate with thecomputer 10 and download digital content from the computer 10. Computer10 communicates with a device 22, such as a server computer, overnetwork 24. Network 24 can be any type of network, such as the Internet,and can be hardwired, wireless, or some combination of the two. Computer10 runs a software application that allows a user to catalog andorganize the digital content of the user. The device 22 can beaccessible over the Internet (such as through a URL address). The device22 is shown in FIG. 2 as a single device. However, it is to beunderstood that the device 22 can instead comprise multiple devices,such as multiple servers.

Mobile handset 20 connects to device 22 over a wireless network 26.Wireless network 26 can be a cellular telephone network, a WiFi network(such as an 802.11 network), a wireless data network (such as EV-DO orEDGE), or any other wireless network. It is to be understood thatwireless network 26 need not connect directly to server device 22, butinstead can connect through an indirect means such as by the Internet orthrough another network. The embodiment will be further described withreference to FIG. 3.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart depicting the interaction of the various elementsshown in FIG. 2. Computer 10 connects to device 22 over network 24.Computer 10 then registers with device 22 (30) so that device 22associates the digital content in the computer 10 with a particular userand a particular mobile handset. Computer 10 then listens on an openhttp connection to device 22 (32) and waits for communications fromserver device 22. Mobile handset 20 contacts server device 22 (34) overwireless network 26. Once the computer 10 is registered with the device22, the user of the mobile handset, when the handset is turned on, seesthe digital content actually stored on the mobile handset as well as thedigital content stored in the computer 10 in a single display as shownin more detail in FIG. 4. When the user of the mobile handset wants touse a piece of digital content stored on the computer 10, the mobilehandset 20 issues a command to computer 10 (36), such as a command totransfer a certain piece of digital content. Computer 10 responds to thecommand and transfers the digital content to device 22 (38). Mobilehandset 20 then obtains digital content from device 22 (step 40). Thus,mobile handset 20 is able to obtain digital content (such as a musicfile) from computer 10 in a fashion that is at least partly wireless.Using the above system and method, a user may have digital contentstored on his/her computer as well as on the mobile handset and maysynchronize the digital content between the computer and the mobilehandset in a wireless manner. For example, the system permits a user tohave a much larger digital content catalog available for use than can bestored in the mobile handset. In addition, the system permits the userto download particular digital content at any time, such as downloadinga particular movie before a long airplane flight. The user also candownload additional data associated with the digital content, such asmetadata (artist information, duration, title, etc.), cover art, andother data.

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of a user interface for mobile handset 20once the computer 10 is registered with the device 22. FIG. 4 shows anumber of different screens that might be displayed on mobile handset20. These screens are generated by a software application running onmobile handset 20. The software application on the mobile handsetobtains (when the digital content is not already stored in the mobilehandset), organizes, displays (both digital content on the mobilehandset and the computer 10), stores and plays digital content and cangenerate the user interface described below.

Screen 50 provides the user with two choices—to view a list of filesthat have been downloaded from computer 10 (“Downloaded”) and are storedon the mobile handset, or to view a list of all files (“All”) includingthe digital content stored on the mobile handset and the digital contentstored on the computer 10. If the user selects the “Downloaded” option,then in screen 52, the user can then choose a subset of the files (byartist, album, or playlist) or to view all of them. If the user selects“All,” then mobile handset 20 displays all available music files,including files that have been or can be downloaded from computer 10. Inthis embodiment, song titles in normal, black text already have beendownloaded to mobile handset 20, and song titles in gray text have notyet been downloaded but can be downloaded. In Screen 54, the userselects the song “All Night Long,” which already has been downloaded,and in Screen 56, the song plays on mobile handset 20 while cover artand other relevant information is displayed for the song “All NightLong.”

When the user selects the “All” option in screen 50, the user ispresented with a menu (58) that permits the user with options to viewall of the digital content (both stored on the mobile handset and storedon the computer) including “All”, by Artist, by Album and/or byPlaylist. When the user selects to view all of the digital content(which are songs in this example), a screen 60 shows all of the digitalcontent (both on the mobile handset and on the computer) wherein certainpieces of digital content are shown in gray text indicating that thosepieces of digital content are stored on the computer and are availablefor download to the mobile handset and other pieces of digital contentare shown in black indicating that those pieces of digital content arestored on the mobile handset. If the user selects “Because of You”(which is shown in gray text), mobile handset 20 then issues a commandto computer 10 (36), such as a command to transfer the song “Because ofYou” from the computer to the mobile handset. Computer 10 responds tothe command and transfers the requested digital content to server device22 (38) and the mobile handset 20 then obtains the digital content fromserver device 22 (40). Once the piece of digital content (or at least abuffer full of the piece of digital content as the piece of digitalcontent continues to download in the background) is downloaded to themobile handset, screen 62 then shows the cover art and other relevantinformation for the song “Because of You” as the song is being played.When the digital content is downloaded onto mobile handset 20, it isplayed on mobile handset 20 and is also stored in a storage systemwithin mobile handset 20 (such as on Flash RAM chip or disk drive) whileit is being played. The digital content (a song in the example in FIG.4) is thus added to the music collection stored on mobile handset 20.When that song is displayed in a menu in the future, it will bedisplayed in normal, black text rather than gray text since it has nowbeen downloaded and stored on mobile handset 20.

In this manner, the digital content on mobile handset 20 can besynchronized with the digital content on computer 10 in a wirelessfashion. This allows a user to listen to or watch the digital contentthat is stored on computer 10, even when the user is in a locationremote from the computer 10.

Device 22 can implement security or verification measures to ensure thatthe person operating mobile handset 20 is the same person who ownscomputer 10, for copyright protection and other reasons. For example,device 22 can require that computer 10, when the computer registers withthe device 22, provide device 22 with the phone number for the mobilehandset that will be allowed to access the digital content stored oncomputer 10. When mobile handset 20 then contacts device 22 with arequest to obtain data from computer 10, device 22 can then determine ifthe phone number associated with mobile handset 20 is the same phonenumber that previously had been registered by computer 10. Device 22 canbe designed to proceed with the requested transfer only if the two phonenumbers match. Other security or verification measures can beimplemented, and this example is only illustrative.

Mobile handset 20 may include circuitry for running an operating systemand applications, circuitry for processing data and metadata, andcircuitry for rendering and playing the digital content, such as audiocontent and video content. All of the circuitry can be contained in asingle integrated chip, in multiple integrated chips, or in acombination of some number of integrated chips and other electroniccomponents.

A user of mobile handset 20 can run various applications on the handset,such as an application that enables the user to listen to music or towatch video content. Mobile handset 20 can include a video display and aspeaker, which would enable a user of mobile handset 20 to watch videocontent on the video display and listen to audio content through thespeaker.

FIG. 5 illustrates another embodiment of the system that allows a mobilehandset 20 to share content with a computing device 10. In thisembodiment, the mobile handset 20 can share content with the computingdevice 10 through the device 22 (as described above), but may also sharecontent/synchronize content with the computing device 10 over a link 70,such as a cable, a docking station, by removing a memory card from themobile handset 20 and reading the memory card using a memory cardreading device coupled to the computing device 10 or by other wirelessprotocols such as a Bluetooth network. In this embodiment, thesynchronization of the content over the two different methods (throughthe device 22 and over the link) requires that the system tracks thesynchronization by both methods. The system may also permit multiplecomputing devices and multiple handsets (assuming that the user has theproper authorizations to share the content) to share the content.

The mobile handset may include a content store 71, such as a database,that may include one or more playlists 72 and the computing device 10may a content store 74, such as a database, and one or more pieces ofcontent 75. In the computing device 10, the one or more pieces ofcontent may have a plurality of different formats (such as MP3, AAC,ACC+, m4a for music content) and the system may be used with multipledifferent types of content including music content, photo content, filecontent, video content, podcasts and any other type of digital content.The computing device, using the content store 74, identifies any newcontent files so that those new content files can appear in the userinterface of the mobile handset described above and new files downloadeddirected to the mobile handset appear in the master content storemaintained on the computing device 10. The content store 71 on eachmobile handset may include an identification code (ID) so that thecomputing device 10 may contain a plurality of content stores for aplurality of mobile handsets wherein the content stores for each mobilehandset are distinguished by the identification code. A user can alsocreate a new playlist on the mobile handset that is stored in thecontent store 71 and then is synchronized back to the computing device10 so that the computing device also maintains the playlists for theparticular mobile handset in the content store for that particularmobile handset as identified by the identification code.

In the system and method described above, the playlists generated on themobile handset may be an on-the-fly playlist which allows content (bothlocal to the mobile handset and the computing device 10 as well contentfrom any source that can be later pulled down to the mobile handset) tobe stored into a playlist on the mobile handset. As above, theon-the-fly playlist may be synchronized back to the computing device 10.In addition, when content stored on the computing device changes(content is removed, for example or the user no longer has rights toplay a particular piece of content), the on-the-fly playlist (and otherplaylists on the mobile handset) are automatically updated to reflectthose changes. Thus, when a piece of content is added to the playlist orremoved from the playlist or mobile handset or computing device 10 orthe owner of the mobile handset loses his/her rights to the piece ofcontent, the playlist stored in the memory of the mobile handset isautomatically updated to reflect the changes.

FIG. 6 illustrates another embodiment of the system that allows a mobilehandset 20 to share content among a plurality of computing deviceswherein the mobile handset has the content store 71 and playlists 72. Asshown, the system permits the mobile handset 20 to synchronize itscontent with a plurality of computing devices 10 ₁, 10 ₂, . . . , 10 nand each computing device maintains a content store of the content onthe mobile handset. For example, in a family in which the differentfamily members each have their own computing device, the mobile handsetof a particular family member can be synchronized to the multiplecomputing devices so that the content purchased by each member of thefamily can be shared. Similarly, the system permits multiple mobilehandsets to synchronize their content with a single computing device(such as might be the case of a family) or multiple mobile handsets cansynchronize their content with multiple computing devices. Thus, thesystem permits the computing devices to effectively share contentbetween the computing devices.

FIG. 7A illustrates a piece of content 80 segmented into smaller pieces.In most mobile handsets, it is not possible to download an entire pieceof content (or the downloading of the entire content causes anunacceptable delay in the user experience) so that the piece of contentis segmented into segments, such as segments 1-8, in order to downloadthe segments to mobile handset. For example, the system is able todownload the segments in sequential manner and therefore begin to playthe piece of content prior to the entire piece of content beingdownloaded to the mobile handset that provides a better user experience.A mobile handset, depending on the type of mobile handset, may have aprogressive download mode. In the progressive download mode, the mobilehandset can start the download of the segments and then start to playthe content while the remainder of the segments of the content aredownloaded to the mobile handset. If the mobile handset is capable ofprogressive downloading, then the downloading of the content to themobile handset is straight-forward. However, if the mobile handset doesnot support progressive downloading (which is the case for most mobilehandsets such as mobile phones), a buffering method is used to permitthe segmentation of the content and then the downloading of the segmentsof the content.

FIG. 7B illustrates a method for downloading/streaming content to amobile handset that does not support progressive downloading. When themobile handset does not support progressive downloading, the mobilehandset does not permit any download into a buffer while any portion ofthe content is being played from the buffer. The mobile handset 20includes the application, as described above, that manages the contenton the mobile handset and displays the user interface shown in FIG. 4.In the embodiment in which the mobile handset does not supportprogressive downloading, the application may also segment a memory spaceof the mobile handset into a first buffer A and a second buffer Bwherein the downloading of the segments of the content occurs byping-ponging between the first and second buffers. In particular, asshown in FIG. 7B, a new piece of content (having segments 1-8 in thisexample) has its first segment downloaded into the first buffer and thenthe segment is played from the first buffer. While the segment ofcontent is being played in the first buffer, the next segments of thepiece of content (which must include the first segment to maintain thefile integrity and download the file header) of the piece of content isdownloaded to the second buffer B (segments 1-3 in this example). Then,when the first segment is completed, the content in the second bufferstarting at segment 2 is played. During the switch from the first bufferto the second buffer, a 20 ms silence occurs but it is not noticeable bythe user. As the segments of content are being played from the secondbuffer B, addition segments (segments 4-6 in this example) aredownloaded to the first buffer A (along with the prior segments tomaintain content file integrity and download the file header). When theplaying of the second and third segments is completed, the mobilehandset switches back to the first buffer A so that segments 4-6 can beplayed. While the segments in the first buffer A are being played, thelast segments of the piece of content (along with the prior segments tomaintain content file integrity) are downloaded into the second bufferand the mobile handset then plays the remaining segments from the secondbuffer once segments 4-6 are completed so that the mobile handsetping-pongs between the first and second buffers. The use of the twobuffers results in a better user experience since the only silence gapsare approximately 20 ms gaps that are not noticeable by the user andpermits streaming of the content. Without the two buffers, a mobilehandset that does not support progressive downloading: 1) must wait toplay the content until it is completely downloaded (which takes toolong); or 2) introduces a pause (2 seconds or more) each time that themobile handset needs to download the next segments of the content. Inaddition, a mobile handset that does not support progressive downloadingand does not have the two buffers cannot be adaptive to bandwidthchanges in the network and thus cannot take advantage of good networkcoverage and good network speed to provide a better user experience.

In another embodiment, the memory space of the mobile handset may bedivided into the first and second buffers (as described above) and athird buffer wherein the segments of the content are downloading intothe third buffer so that the third buffer has all of the currentlydownloaded segments of the content (or all of the segments of thecontent if the downloading is completed).

The mobile handset application may also include a mode in which theapplication, when the user is playing a playlist for example, looksahead in the playlist and downloads the next piece of content in theplaylist (if it is not already on the mobile handset) in a streamingmanner wherein the first piece of content will have the 20 ms silencegaps (due to the streaming and ping-ponging between the buffers), butany subsequent pieces of content will not have the silence gaps sincethe subsequent content may be pre-downloaded in the entirety to themobile handset.

The mobile handset/application of the mobile handset may also include an“airplane” mode in which the mobile handset and application determineswhen the mobile handset is connected to the network (either the wirelessnetwork or the link). When the application determines that the mobilehandset does not have any connection to the computing device 10, theapplication does not display any content that is only on the computingdevice 10, but permits the user to play the content already stored onthe mobile handset. However, when the mobile handset is again connectedto the computing device 10, the content on the mobile handset and on thecomputing device (shown in FIG. 4 above) is again shown to the user.

FIG. 8 illustrates a network aware mobile handset application of thecontent sharing system. As with the system shown in FIG. 5, the mobilehandset 20 may include the content store 71, such as a database, thatmay include one or more playlists 72 and the computing device 10 may thecontent store 74, such as a database, and one or more pieces of content75. The mobile handset may further include the content application thatis executed on the mobile handset. In this embodiment of the system, thecomputing device 10 or device 22 may have one or more links 24, 26 thatallows the mobile handset 20 to exchange data and information with thecomputing device 10 or device 22. The link, in this embodiment, may beone or more different links that each have different characteristics.For example, the links may be cellular/mobile or 3G network 90, awireless computer network 92 and a Bluetooth network 94. Each of theselink have different characteristics such as cost to use, bandwidthavailable and download speed and protocol. For example, a 3G network isexpensive, requires a 3G enabled mobile device and has very fastdownload speeds, a wireless computer network may be free, require a WLANcard or circuit and has a slower download speed as compared to the 3Gnetwork.

In the network aware mobile handset application of the content sharingsystem, the application on the mobile handset has a behavior (when andhow its uses each different link when available and how it synchronizescontent with the computing device 10 or device 22) that changes based onthe particular link that is available and accessible to the mobilehandset. For example, the application on the mobile handset may beconfigured to download any and all content not already on the mobilehandset automatically whenever the mobile handset can access a free linkand also configured to only download the next piece of content as neededwhen the mobile handset has access only to an expensive link, such as3G. As another example, the application on the mobile handset may have adormancy timer to turn off network access to an expensive link until abutton/user action reactivates the link access. As another example, theapplication on the mobile handset may disable any content prefetch whenthe mobile handset can only access an expensive link. As anotherexample, if the user has selected to download a movie onto their mobilehandset, the application may stream at a minimum speed when the mobilehandset has access only to an expensive link, but may then download theentire movie onto the mobile handset when the mobile handset has accessto a wireless computer network which is low cost or free. Thus, theapplication in the mobile handset has behaviors that change depending onthe link access of the mobile handset.

While the foregoing has been with reference to particular embodiments ofthe invention, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art thatchanges in these embodiments may be made without departing from theprinciples and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined bythe appended claims.

1. A method for playing content of a user on a mobile device,comprising: providing, on a computer, a piece of content; determining,by a mobile device, the networks available to the mobile device;selecting, in response to an action by a user of the mobile device, thepiece of content; when a first network is detected by the mobile device,streaming the piece of content from the computer to the mobile deviceover the first network; and when a second network is detected by themobile device, downloading the piece of content onto the mobile deviceover the second network.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the firstnetwork comprises a cellular network.
 3. The method of claim 2, whereinthe cellular network comprises a 3G network.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein the second network comprises a wireless computer network.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the mobile device further comprises a mobilephone.
 6. A method for playing content of a user on a mobile device,comprising: providing, on a computer, a plurality of pieces of content;determining, by a mobile device, the networks available to the mobiledevice; when a first network is detected by the mobile device,downloading one of the plurality of pieces of content onto the mobiledevice over the first network; when a second network is detected by themobile device, downloading the plurality of pieces of content onto themobile device over the second network.
 7. The method of claim 6, whereinthe first network comprises a cellular network.
 8. The method of claim7, wherein the cellular network comprises a 3G network.
 9. The method ofclaim 6, wherein the second network comprises a wireless computernetwork.
 10. The method of claim 6, wherein the mobile device furthercomprises a mobile phone.
 11. A method for playing content of a user ona mobile device, comprising: providing, on a computer, a piece ofcontent; determining, by a mobile device, the types of networksavailable to the mobile device; selecting, in response to an action by auser of the mobile device, the piece of content; when a first network isdetected by the mobile device, streaming the piece of content from thecomputer to the mobile device over the first network at a first speed;and when a second network is detected by the mobile device, streamingthe piece of content from the computer to the mobile device over thesecond network at a second speed.
 12. The method of claim 11, whereinthe first network comprises a cellular network.
 13. The method of claim12, wherein the cellular network comprises a 3G network.
 14. The methodof claim 11, wherein the second network comprises a wireless computernetwork.
 15. The method of claim 11, wherein the mobile device furthercomprises a mobile phone.
 16. A method for playing content of a user ona mobile device, comprising: providing, on a computer, a piece ofcontent; determining, by a mobile device, the networks available to themobile device; selecting, in response to an action by a user of themobile device, the piece of content; when a first network is detected bythe mobile device, downloading the piece of content onto the mobiledevice at a first speed over the first network; and when a secondnetwork is detected by the mobile device, downloading the piece ofcontent onto the mobile device at a second speed over the secondnetwork.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the first network comprisesa cellular network.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the cellularnetwork comprises a 3G network.
 19. The method of claim 16, wherein thesecond network comprises a wireless computer network.
 20. The method ofclaim 16, wherein the mobile device further comprises a mobile phone.21. A system for sharing content between a computer and a mobile device,comprising: a mobile device having a display that displays a piece ofcontent stored on a computer; the mobile device having an applicationconfigured to determine the networks available to the mobile device andto request, in response to a user action on the mobile device, the pieceof content from the computer, and when a first network is detected bythe mobile device to receive a stream of the piece of content from thecomputer over the first network and when a second network is detected bythe mobile device to download the piece of content from the computerover the second network.
 22. The system of claim 21, wherein the firstnetwork comprises a cellular network.
 23. The system of claim 22,wherein the cellular network comprises a 3G network.
 24. The system ofclaim 21, wherein the second network comprises a wireless computernetwork.
 25. The system of claim 21, wherein the mobile device furthercomprises a mobile phone.
 26. A system for sharing content between acomputer and a mobile device, comprising: a mobile device having adisplay that displays a plurality of pieces of content stored on acomputer; the mobile device having an application configured todetermine the networks available to the mobile device, and when a firstnetwork is detected by the mobile device to download one of theplurality of pieces of content from the computer over the first networkand when a second network is detected by the mobile device to downloadthe plurality of pieces of content from the computer over the secondnetwork.
 27. The system of claim 26, wherein the first network comprisesa cellular network.
 28. The system of claim 27, wherein the cellularnetwork comprises a 3G network.
 29. The system of claim 26, wherein thesecond network comprises a wireless computer network.
 30. The system ofclaim 26, wherein the mobile device further comprises a mobile phone.31. A system for sharing content between a computer and a mobile device,comprising: a mobile device having a display that displays a piece ofcontent stored on a computer; the mobile device having an applicationconfigured to determine the networks available to the mobile device andto select, in response to an action by a user of the mobile device, thepiece of content, and when a first network is detected by the mobiledevice to receive a stream of the piece of content from the computerover the first network at a first speed and when a second network isdetected by the mobile device to receive a stream of the piece ofcontent from the computer over the second network at a second speed. 32.The system of claim 31, wherein the first network comprises a cellularnetwork.
 33. The system of claim 32, wherein the cellular networkcomprises a 3G network.
 34. The system of claim 31, wherein the secondnetwork comprises a wireless computer network.
 35. The system of claim31, wherein the mobile device further comprises a mobile phone.
 36. Asystem for sharing content between a computer and a mobile device,comprising: a mobile device having a display that displays a piece ofcontent stored on a computer; the mobile device having an applicationconfigured to determine the networks available to the mobile device andto select, in response to an action by a user of the mobile device, thepiece of content, and when a first network is detected by the mobiledevice to download the piece of content from the computer at a firstspeed over the first network and when a second network is detected bythe mobile device to download the piece of content from the computer ata second speed over the second network.
 37. The system of claim 36,wherein the first network comprises a cellular network.
 38. The systemof claim 37, wherein the cellular network comprises a 3G network. 39.The system of claim 36, wherein the second network comprises a wirelesscomputer network.
 40. The system of claim 36, wherein the mobile devicefurther comprises a mobile phone.